Means for controlling yarn in knitting machines



MEANS FOR CONTROLLING YARN IN KNITTING MACHINES Filed March 24, 19601954 B. 'r. R. REYMES-COLE 4 Sheets- Sheet 1 In vemor BERNARD THORMUNREYMES REYMEF-(DLE a mag WM MEANS FOR CONTROLLING YARN IN KNITTINGMACHINES Filed March 24. 1960 1964 B. T. R. REYMES-COLE 4 Sheets-Sheet 21964 B. -r. R. REYMES-COLE 3,120,115

MEANS FOR CONTROLLING YARN IN KNITTING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 FiledMarh 24. 1960 F i 6. /n vembr a BER/0WD THORNTON REYMES RBMQ'L'OLE 5mam} W Af/OIZLeZS 1964 B. 'r. R. REYMES-COLE 3,

MEANS FOR CONTROLLING YARN IN KNITTiNG MACHINES Filed March 24, 1960 4Sheets-Sheet 4 United States Patent 3,12%,2t MEWS FER CONTRQLLTNG YARNIN KNITTENG MACHINES Bernard Thornton Re /mes Reymes-Cole, 29 StationRoad,

Desford, Leicester, England Filed Mar. 24, 196i), Ser. No. 17,361 Claimspriority, application Great Britain lvlar. 25, 1959 4 Claims. (Cl.66-425) This invention is for an improved method and means forcontrolling yarn in knitting machines and has for one of its objects toprovide a particularly simple and Micetive form of yarn control. Afurther object is to facilitate the incorporation in knitted fabric offree or loose lengths of yarn which are not readily susceptible to beingcontrolled.

The control of yarn in knitting machines is ordinarily achieved by guidemembers for example feeders, guide eyes, arid similar members which arearranged to engage the yarn and may be required to be moved to vary thepath of the yarn from time to time. In many cases the required movementof yarn guide members which is performed mechanically entails accuratetiming in relation to other moving parts and requires the provision ofactuating mechanism. The invention envisages an extremely simple andeffective way of controlling and guiding a yarn which does not requirecomplex actuating mechanism and controls the yarn in a gentle, eflectiveand positive manner.

In accordance with the invention there is provided a method ofcontrolling a yarn in a knitting machine according to which the yarn iscaused to come within the influence of a localized air stream by whichthe yarn is deflected in a required manner and retained againstundesired movement while being permitted readily to be withdrawn fromthe air stream as and when needed. Con veniently the air stream iscaused to deflect the yarn in such manner that its advancement to atake-up point can be accurately guided and during such advancement it isheld taut by drag applied to it by the air stream. The method mayconveniently be used for controlling the guidance of an othewvise freelength of yarn to the needles of a knitting machine and consequently animportant application of the invention is its use for controllingpresentation to the needles of a severed length of yarn or a loose floatto enable such yarn length or float to be readily incorporated in theknitted fabric.

Preferably in practicing the invention the localized air current isproduced by suction, although it could alternatively be produced byprojection of air from a nozzle. Thus in applying the method to theoperation of a circular knitting machine a localized air current may beset up at a suitable position to act on an uncontrolled length of yarnextending from the needles and draw it outwardly from the needle circleso as to cause it to be suitably directed, if desired by engagement withintervening guiding means, for subsequent feeding to the needles. Suchcontrol may be secured by having an opening in a part of the machinepositioned outwardly of and relatively close to the needle circle, forexample in a latch guard plate, through which opening air is withdrawnto produce a localized air stream running outwards across the needleline and into the opening. It is found that in this way a loose end ofyarn, or an uncontrolled bight of yarn such as a float, can be veryeffectively controlled in a simple and gentle manner with certainty, bybe ng taken up by the air stream and Withdrawn by it outwardly of theneedles so as to be held tau-t and maintained in such controlled statewhile being taken up by the needles, being caused to be presentedcorrectly to the needles either by the line of its approach towards themor by an intervening deflecting member over which it is caused to passto direct 3,120,115 Patented Feb. 4, 1964 it to the needles. The aircurrent produced by suction in effect grasps the yarn without damagethereto and continues to draw it in taut condition while it is beingtaken up.

The invention further provides in a knitting machine means for producinga localized air stream in the neighbourhood of the need-1e line forcontrolling a length of yarn extending from the needles. Convenientlysuch means is such that the air stream is so positioned that a length offree yarn on being released from a controlling or guiding means iscaused to come within the influence or" the air stream and to beimmediately contnolled there by. If necessary a yarn control element maybe arranged to act on the yarn to move it into the range of the airstream before the yarn is released for control by the air stream.

In a convenient construction the means for creating a localized airstream is formed by an opening in a part of the machine close to and onthe yarn feeding side of the needle line and connected to a suctionsource. As applied to a circular knitting machine such opening may beformed in a latch guard plate and positioned somewhat in advance of afeed point at which needles are positioned to receive the yarn. Theopening may be elongated or may have associated with it on one or bothsides a recess extending in the general direction of the needle linealong which air is drawn to the opening, so that the yarn is caused topass along the recess on its way to the needle while remainingcontrolled by an air current exerting a drag on the yarn. By this meansa severed end of yarn can be controlled accurately up to a point veryclose to that at which its extremity can pass to the needles.

The means provided by the invention is particularly suitable as appliedto a circular knitting machine for enabling cut ends or uncut longfloats of yarn to be laid 'or knitted in with the fabric being producedduring the normal operation of the machine as explained more fullylater.

The improved method and apparatus in accordance with the invention willnow be described more particularly, by *way of example, in itsapplication to a circular knitting machine as illustnated in theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a general elevation view, with certain parts omitted andothers broken away, showing a circular knitting machine of orthodox typefitted with apparatus used in carrying out the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view on an enlarged scale of part of the machine asseen looking down from above the needle cylinder;

FEGURE 3 is a side view of the parts in FIG. 2 partly in central crosssection as seen from the right of that figure;

FIGURE 4 is a diagram showing part of the paths of the needles;

FIGURE 5 shows diagrammatically the path of the sinkers;

FiGURE 6 is an enlarged view at the mouth of the nozzle; and

FIGURES 7 to l3 show diagrammatically in plan view various stages in thecontrol of a formed float of yarn to enable it to be taken up in theknitted fabric.

The machine selected for illustration and shown in FIG. 1 is a circularknitting machine of Scott and Williams type and generally orthodoxconstruction adapted for knitting ladies hose, as will be readilyunderstood by persons skilled in the art of knitting machinery. Itcomprises a base or table 15 carrying a main frame 16 which supports amain driving shaft 17 and cylinder bed plate 18. The needle cylindershown at 19 is driven by gear Wheel 20 on shaft 17 to rotateanticlockwise as seen from above. Supported by a bracket 21 from the bedplate 18 is a sinker cam ring 22; Above this is the usual latch guardring 23 which 'is pivoted at its rearward part, on the left of FIG. 1,to a supporting bracket 24 so that it can be raised when required foraccess to the interior of the top of the cylinder. The latch guard ringcarries centrally at low level within it a stationary trapper plate ordisc 25 supported by a bracket arm 26 and For feeding yarns to theneedles the machine has a group of yarn feeders 28, FiG. 2, including asplicing yarn feeder which is brought into and out of operation inorthodox manner and when operative is rendered active and inactiveduring each cylinder rotation at variable timed intervals. The knownmechanism by which this is achieved comprises a control drum 29 rackedround at appropriate times and having a segment acting to hold thefeeder inoperative until required, a earn 30 on main shaft 17 andrelated fol-lower mechanism for rocking a lever 31 to introduce andwithdraw the feeder, a slide bar 32 carrying lever 31, and a cam 33 on arack wheel 34 for shifting slide bar 32 to vary the timing ofintroduction and withdrawal of the feeder to alter the width of splicingas required for instance for shaping the splicing 'of a cuban or in aspliced foot bottom near the toe and heel ends. The same mechanism actson other instrumentalities to control the action of an orthodox trappingand cutting device mounted on the trapper plate.

The trapping and cutting device comprises a knife arm 35' and trapperarm 36, FIG. 2, mounted to rock together on a pivot 37, FIG. 3, a fixedspring blade 38 and a guide finger 39. The knife and trapper arms arerocked by means of a link 40, a lever 41 passing through a slot in post27 and a plush rod '42 operated by the mechanism aforesaid landco-operating with a separate segment or segments on the drum 29 wherebythe cutter and trapper is held open when not in use. The known parts ofthe machine also include a spring controlled take up lever 43 mounted atthe top of a'post 44, and fixed yarn guides 45 and 46. The take up leverserves to remove any slackness in the splicing Yarn between it and theneedles.

For practicing the present invention other parts are fitted to themachine as follows. Firstly a suction nozzle 47 is fitted to the lowerpart of the latch guard ring and opens on to an elongated slot or mouth48 formed in a plate 49 secured to the intert-ior of the latch guardring. The suction nozzle 47 is connected by a flexible pipe '50 to asource of suction, such as the inlet of'an air pump 50 or a vacuumcleaner cylinder. The plate 49, FIG. 6, has the lower edge of its slot48 formed with a small hump 51 and is partly masked by a small thinplate 52 secured to and spaced slightly inwardly from the plate 49. Thusplate52 .provides a narrow yarn guiding slot 53 and a yarn controllingprojection 54. Other special parts provided for practicing the inventioncomprise additional needle and jack operating cams some of which areshown at 55, 56 and 57 in FIG. 1, a modified sinker track to provide forrelated variation in sinker operation, and variable float length controlmeans.

The float length control means is provided to measure the length of afloat of yarn between the ends of a part course such as is knitted whensplicing part way round a hose, or when otherwise knitting part coursessay for part shaping purposes, and is shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. Thiscontrol means comprises a measuring finger 58 on one end of an arm 59which extends in a recess under the'trapper plate 25 and is secured tothe bottom end of a spindle 60 mounted to turn in bearings in thetrapper plate 25 and the bracket arm 26. The upper extremity of thefinger 58 is formed with a notch 61 and small hook 62. On the upper endof spindle 60 is secured an arm 63 having acam face 64 engaged by arounded end lobe 65 on a lever arm 66 pivoted at 67 to the bracket arm26. The lobe 65 and cam face 64 are maintained in engagement by atension spring 68 and their shaping determines the required variationsin setting of the arm 59. The lever arm 66 has a tail '69 coupled by alink 70 to an upstanding lever '71 pivoted at 72 to a fixed part andhaving its lower end engaged by a projection 73 on the slide bar 32. Thelower end of =lever 71 is held against this projection by a spring 74anchored at 75 to the bracket arm 26.

It may now be explained that the machine selected for purpose ofillustration of the invention has been adapted to enable cut ends orun-cut floats of yarn to be laid in with the fabric being producedduring the normal operation of the machine with the rotation of thecylinder being continued uninterruptedly. To enable this to be carriedout in a simple and effective way use is made of a novel method ofcontrolling the cut ends or un-cu-t floats by means of a localized airstream which draws them taut and holds them extending in an appropriatedirection to enable them to be taken up by the needles as required. Tothis end the nozzle 47, is positioned close to the needle circle at ashort distance ratherless than a quarter of the circumference thereofbeyond the feeding point, and in a the neighbourhood of the position'ofthe nozzle 47 the action of the needles is modified so that they are alllowered to about sinker level after they have passed the stitch andraising cam at the knitting station and just before they reach the mouth48 of the nozzle 47. FIG. 4 illustrates the paths of the needle hooksasseen from outside the cylinder in the region of the mouth 48 of thenozzle and shows them all at the lowered level indicated at 76 as theypass the nozzle mouth 48. It is noted that the latter is slightly abovethe tops of the needles when at this level. The lowering of the needlesto this level is effected by the needle cam 55, FIG. 1. 'As soon as theneedles have passed the nozzle mouth 43 they divide into two streams,certain spaced needles (every third one in the example shown) beingraised as at 77 by their jacks and a jack cam (not shown). The remainingintervening needles are lowered still further to the level indicated at73 by the needle cam 56 which misses the butts on the needles raised bytheir jacks. Subsequently, the raised needles are lowered as at 79 byneedle cam 57, and all of the eedles are raised by a further jack cam(not shown) as indicated at 80 up to tucking height at which they remainuntil brought round to the knitting station once again. Simultaneouslywith the modified action of the needles, the sinkers are withdrawn by aslight hump in the sinker cam track causing the tops of the sinkers tomove out and in as shown at 31 in FIG. 5, which shows diagrammaticallyby parallel lines 32 the path of movement of the tops of the sinkers.The withdrawal and return of the sinkers at 81 is timed to occur ascertain of the needles are being raised at 77 and lowered at 79 in FIG.4, this being the stage at which yarn ends or floats are being laid inon the eedles from the nozzle mouth 48.

In the operation of the machine the suction nozzle 47 when connected toan operative suction source causes a stream of air to be withdrawnacross the needle line at the position at which the needles are loweredas at 76 in FIG. 4. This will cause any loose lengths of yarn on theinside of the needle circle to be drawn across it and towards the nozzlemouth 43 and if long enough they will enter the nozzle proper and beheld taut by the stream of air imposing drag on them. it will be evidentthat this manner of control of loose lengths of yarn can be appliedusefully in a number of ways in the operation of a knitting machine toensure desired control of free yarn portions for which purposerelatively complicated mechanisms would otherwise be necessary. Themethod of air flow control can obviously be used at various positions'inthe a needle circle depending on the purpose for which it is needed. Themanner in which an un-cut float of yarn is incorporated in the fabricbeing knitted is a particularly useful example which will now bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 7 to 13.

In the procedure of FIGS. 7 to 13 a splicing thread is beingincorporated in rotary knitted fabric over a part only of the needlecircle indicated by the double line 83. The float which extends betweenthe ends of each part course is indicated at 84. This float commences tobe formed from the last stitch in the part course as the needle carryingit moves away from the feeder indicated at 85 after the latter has beenwithdrawn. The yarn extending from the fabric, while held taut by thetake-up lever 43, is caused to pass over the plate 25 and catch over thehook 62 of measuring finger 58 and then be deflected by the finger underthe trapper plate until the stage is reached, as in FIG. 7, that thefeeder is again active to commence knitting the next part course. Atthis time the length of float is fixed by the pick up of the yarn by theneedles and the path of the float extending between that point and theend of the previous part course. This is in fact measured by theposition of the measuring finger 58. As the cylinder continues to turn,the float 84 becomes slack and passes off the hook 62. being drawn bythe air stream partly into the nozzle 47. As knitting proceeds the floatbecomes drawn into loop 86 in the nozzle and held therein as indicatedin FIG. 9. In FIG. 10 further turning of the cylinder has caused thearms of the loop 86 to become reversed in position with the last formedend of the float leaving the nozzle and in FIG. 11 the float iscomrnencing to be laid into the needles that have been raised at 77,these being the needles on which the part courses have been knitted. Thelaying in of the float continues through an intermediate stage indicatedin FIG. 12 to the final stage of FIG. 13 at which the last portion ofthe float is being laid into the needle hooks of the last few needles ofthe part course in the needle are 33.

When the float 84 is first taken into the nozzle mouth it passes throughthe right hand part of the slot 48 as seen in FIG. 6 and is caused atthe stage of about FIGS. 10 and 11 to move under the mask plate 52 andenter the yarn guiding slot 53 for presentation to the needles at a lowfeeding level and at a predetermined angle. The yarn is drawn throughsuch slot until near the stage of FIG. 13 at which time the last portionof float is retarded by the hump 51 and projection 54 to prevent it frombeing released prematurely to the needles and particularly at the lastfew needles. The measuring of the required length of float 84 is variedto correspond to the length of the needle arc in which part courseknitting is performed by adjustment of the measuring finger 58 by themechanism described for controlling movement of the arm 59. Thus it willbe seen that the cam 33 which is racked round to vary the width ofsplicing by operation of the slide bar 32 causes simultaneous adjustmentof the measuring finger 58 by the projection 73 on the slide barengaging "id turning the lever 71 to vary the position of measuringfinger appropriately.

The position of the arm 59 may be varied to vary the setting of thefinger 58 between a point close to the main knitting station near thefeeders 2S and a point about 120 beyond that station. in the settingshown in the drawings and settings further removed from the knittingstation the finger 58 causes the float 84 to be immediately presented tothe air stream. Shorter floats on the other hand are carried to the airstream by the rotation of the needle cylinder.

The modified action of the needles and sinkers at the region of thenozzle mouth 43 as above described causes the float '84 to be laid inthe fabric by being taken up at short intervals without being knitted.This occurs because the float is fed into the hooks of the needlesraised at 77 and then lowered by them while the sinkers are withdrawnwhereupon the sinkers move inwardly to hold the yarn under their nibsthereby ensuring that the yarn float is passed behind the remainingintervening needles. The float is carried on the needles in this way andpermanently held in the fabric at the next course of knitting.

Instead of laying the yarn in thus, it could obviously be knitted in byvarying the control of the needles near the nozzle mouth 48 to causethem to have knitting action, or the needle and sinker control 'at thatregion may be such as to cause the yarn to be engaged and held on all ofthe needles so as to be knitted in with the next course of yarn at themain knitting station.

When loose ends of yarn are required to be incorporated in the fabricfor example at the commencement and ending of a splicing area orwhenever some other yarn change occurs, the action of the improved yarncontrol ling means is very similar to that already described. Thus theair stream passing through the nozzle mouth 43 impinges on the lastformed portion of fabric on all of the needles in turn and any looseends such as those which extend from the needles to the trapping andcutting device at a yarn change or several ends of floats (when theseare cut as soon as formed) which extend from the needles will on cominginto the range of the air stream be drawn thereby outwardly of theneedle circle and held in conrolled manner by its drag. The loose endsare then fed to the needles as raised at 77 and Worked into the fabricas described in connection with un-cut floats. Likewise if desired looseends may be knitted into the fabric as aforementioned.

An air stream as aforesaid may be cut off except at such times as it isrequired, for example, during yarn changes and during knitting ofspliced areas or part course areas of fabric. It is particularly usefulfor the control of yarns of nylon or other man made fibre of fine deniersuch as are used in manufacture of stockings or other garments. Bysuitable control of the air current operation it may be caused to beeflective only during certain courses of knitting enabling floats orloose ends from one or more courses to be incorporated into the fabricat the same course of knitting.

Another useful application of an air stream as aforesaid is to take upslackness in a yarn and preserve its tautness for introduction to theneedles, particularly in cases in which a variable take up is needed asin reciprocator-y knitting on a circular machine. In such cases the airstream may be caused to deflect excess length of yarn as a loop into atube or cavity.

What I claim is:

1. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a movable needlecylinder having a series of needles, a

knitting station, and means for feeding a yarn to said needles, of meansfor causing an uncut yarn float formed between part courses to beknitted into the fabric, the last-mentioned means including means forlowering the needles as they pass a portion of their path removed fromsaid knitting station, means for creating a localized air stream flowingoutwardly across the needle circle for moving said uncut yarn float tothe outside of the needle cylinder at said portion of the needle pathincluding a latch guard plate having an opening at a position in advanceof a feed point at which needles are positioned to receive yarn, and asource of suction connected to said opening, means for guiding saiduncut yarn float and holding the same at a closely controlledpredetermined angle relative to the needles for being progressivelydrawn from said air stream and knitted into the fabric, and a floatmeasuring finger adjustable within and around the needle circle andadapted to pick up said uncut yarn float and cause it to be deflectedinto a bight of measured length.

2. Ina circular knitting machine, the combination with a movable needlecylinder having a series of needles, a knitting station, and means forfeeding a yarn to said needles, of means for causing an uncut yarn floatformed between part courses to be knit-ted into the fabric, thelast-mentioned means including means for lowering the needles as theypass a portion of their path removed from said knitting station, meansfor creating a localized air stream flowing outwardly across the needlecircle for moving said uncut yarn float to the outside of the needlecylinder at said portion of the needle path including a latch guardplate having an opening at a position in 7 advance of a feed point atwhich needles are positioned to receive yarn, and a source of suctionconnected to said opening, means for guiding said uncut yarn fioat andholding the same at a closely controlled predetermined angle relative tothe needles for being progressively drawn from said air stream andknitted into the fabric, mechanism for'varying the width of part coursesso as to vary the length of floats formed in predetermined relation tothe length of the part courses, a float measuring finger adapted to pickup said uncut yarn float and cause'it to be deflected into a hight ofmeasured yarn, and means responsive to said mechanism for varying theWidth of part courses for adjusting said finger within and around theneedle circle.

3. In a circular knitting machine, the combination with a movable needlecylinder having a series of needles, a knitting station, and means forfeeding a yarn to said needles, of means for causing an uncontrolledlength of yarn, having at least one end extending from the fabric, to beknitted into the fabric, the last-mentioned means including means forlowering the needles as they pass a portion of their path removed fromsaid knitting station, means for creating a localized air stream flowingout- Wardly across the needle circle for moving said length of yarn tothe outside of the needle circle at said portion of the needle pathincluding suction means at a position in advance of a feed point atwhich needles are positioned to receive yarn, and guide means providinga restricted passage at the mouth of said suction means for guiding saidlength of yarn as it issues from said nozzle and holding the same at aclosely con-trolled predetermined angle relative to the needles forbeing progressively drawn from said air stream and incorporated into thefabric.

4. The circular knitting machine defined in claim 3 wherein the mouth ofsaid suctionvmeans is elongated horizontally, close to and on the outerside of the needle circle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,269,757 Davis Ian.'l3, 1942 2,424,033 Hilker et al. July 15, 19472,996,903 Levin Aug. 22, 1961 3,050,970 Billi Aug. '28, 1962 V FOREIGNPATENTS 580,501 Great Britain Sept. 10, 1956

3. IN A CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE, THE COMBINATION WITH A MOVABLE NEEDLECYLINDER HAVING A SERIES OF NEEDLES, A KNITTING STATION, AND MEANS FORFEEDING A YARN TO SAID NEEDLES, OF MEANS FOR CAUSING AN UNCONTROLLEDLENGTH OF YARN, HAVING AT LEAST ONE END EXTENDING FROM THE FABRIC, TO BEKNITTED INTO THE FABRIC, THE LAST-MENTIONED MEANS INCLUDING MEANS FORLOWERING THE NEEDLES AS THEY PASS A PORTION OF THEIR PATH REMOVED FROMSAID KNITTING STATION MEANS FOR CREATING A LOCALIZED AIR STREAM FLOWINGOUTWARDLY ACROSS THE NEEDLE CIRCLE FOR MOVING SAID LENGTH OF YARN TO THEOUTSIDE OF THE NEEDLE CIRCLE AT SAID PORTION OF THE NEEDLE PATHINCLUDING SUCTION MEANS AT A POSITION IN ADVANCED OF A FEED POINT ATWHICH NEEDLES ARE POSITIONED TO RECEIVE YARN, AND GUIDE MEANS PROVIDINGA RESTRICTED PASSAGE AT THE MOUTH OF SAID SUCTION MEANS FOR GUIDING SAIDLENGTH OF YARN AS IT ISSUES FROM SAID NOZZLE AND HOLDING THE SAME AT ACLOSELY CONTROLLED PREDETERMINED ANGLE RELATIVE TO THE NEEDLES FOR BEINGPROGRESSIVELY DRAWN FROM SAID AIR STREAM AND INCORPORATED INTO THEFABRIC.